


The Clash of Kings and Queens

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - How to Train Your Dragon Fusion, Dragons, Gen, Inspired by How to Train Your Dragon, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-16
Updated: 2014-11-16
Packaged: 2018-02-25 13:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2623370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A crossover between Attack on Titan and the How to Train Your Dragon series.</p><p>Dragons have plagued humanity for centuries. The two races are bound to be enemies forever- or at least until one group can drive the other to extinction. This battle is one humankind appears to be losing- until a certain blonde from Shiganshina and a Night Fury form an unlikely friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning of the End

It happened at midday.

At first, it was a day like any other in Shiganshina. People went about their lives as usual. Children played in the streets. Adults went to work. Members of the Recon Corps and Garrison Regime came back from the tops of the walls covered in lacerations and burns.

Unlike usual, they were babbling about a moving mountain, vaster than anything anyone had seen before. But their sentences were mostly incoherent and their minds seemed long gone. No one paid them much attention. Their warnings were written off as insane ramblings.

The walls that defined the territory were unblemished. To prevent aerial assault, stronger-than-steel netting covered the tops of the walls. It was spread widely enough to sunlight in and humans out, but dragons couldn't pass, although that didn't stop them from trying. Hordes of monsters assaulted their defenses every day, with no success. The soldiers simply couldn't imagine anything that was capable of breaking through.

Life continued as usual in the town, at least until midday. When the sun reached its peak above the city, a great roar, louder than any the citizens of Shiganshina had ever heard before, shook the ground for miles around. As that roar sounded, an impossibly vast monster came in to view.

Most dragons were large. They had a variety of body types and wingspans and attacks. The largest documented species were the Typhoomerangs and Timberjacks, whose wingspans were about twenty meters- incredibly large, but not even half of the height of humanity's protective walls. The thing that attacked Wall Maria that day was positively colossal.

This dragon wasn't as quite tall as Wall Maria was, but she was close. What she lacked in height, she made up for in length. The beast was almost three times as long as the wall was tall. Height was the only advantage the wall had over the dragon- instead of immobile stone, she was pure muscle and armor.

As she neared the walls, the Survey Corps sent out a desperate attempt to hinder the beast. The soldiers flew towards her, swords extended and ready to attack, but a wave of smaller dragons rose to meet them, and tore the lackluster offensive to shreds. The weapons of the few who managed to break through the barricade shattered on contact, and the queen continued on, as oblivious to her would-be attackers as you might be to a tiny insect flying behind you. Her only truly vulnerable areas, the wings and the eyes, were protected by thick clouds of dragons swarming around their queen, and their defense was even more enthusiastic and savage than the defense of her sides.

When the beast neared Wall Maria, she lowered her great head and charged, tearing through the outer and inner shells of the wall and demolishing buildings wherever her feet landed.

For reasons unknown to any but her, the queen stopped her assault there, content with the damage she had done. She didn't even bother to watch what happened next. To her, none of the deaths she had caused were of any importance. Humanity was an ant infestation beneath her feet, and her army was the exterminator. By knocking down a portion of the walls, she had simply selected the colony she wanted rid of at that particular moment.

It was midday when the world as humankind knew it began to end.

The Garrison Regime loaded the few intact cannons with whatever they could find to try to suppress the enemy. It worked for a while- dragon after dragon was knocked out of the sky, dead or severely injured. But for each one that took fell, three more took their place, their claws outstretched and maw curled into a vicious snarl.

Soon, the Garrison ran out of ammunition.

No one knew what happened to those taken by the dragons. They did not know what happened to those who were dragged screaming into the sky. All they knew is that it happened, and that those taken were never seen again.

A woman whose legs were crushed by the debris was carried away as her children watched, screaming. A grandmother desperately clung to her grandson as he was dragged into the sky. A fifteen-year old grabbed the hang of her girlfriend, trying and failing to pull her loved one back to earth. Yet another dragon snagged a child, who even as he was taken away, stared blankly at his father's crushed body. Countless adults and children were carried away and still the monsters kept coming.

The Recon Corps and Garrison Squad fought bravely against insurmountable odds. They sunk the hooks of their gear into the wings of dragons as they passed by, launching themselves upwards and landing neatly on top of the dragons. If they were quick enough, they could cut the dragons wings or necks, and send them plummeting. If they weren't, they were impaled by spikes, burned to crisps, or simply carried away.

Corporal Levi of the Recon Corps was particularly good at this. His small stature allowed him to easily hide in blind spots, and his prowess with three dimensional maneuvering gear gave him the ability to literally jump from dragon to dragon without being spotted or touching the ground. He was humanity's greatest hope for survival.

It was a Stormcutter that finally brought him down.

The tan creature was more flexible than most dragons. It could turn its head almost all the way around, and had two sets of wings. When Captain Levi attacked, he crippled one wing- but the other three managed to keep the Stormcutter airborne. The dragon's counterstrike knocked Levi from its back. Before he could fall to his death, the dragon grabbed him, its talons trapping Levi's arms against his sides, and began to fly upwards.

That would have been the end of Levi if it weren't for one thing. The dragon's injured wing and Levi's added weight slowed it down- not dramatically, but enough that Squad Leader Hange was able to catch up. With infinite prowess, she latched on to the dragon's tail and swung onto its back.

The Stormcutter snarled bravely as it faced its new challenger, but it couldn't fight and carry the weight of two fully grown humans when its wing was so badly injured. Reluctantly, it released Levi, who fell onto a building not far below them. He paused for a minute, trying to catch his breath. A few seconds later, when he looked back up, there was no sign of Hange or the Stormcutter.

Many others were not so fortunate as Levi had been.

All around them, Monstrous Nightmares and Typhoomerangs were burning paths into the houses, trapping citizens and blocking escape routes. Scaldrons and Thunderdrums lurked in the water, ready to sink any ships that dared try to leave. Zipplebacks exploded gas tanks at an alarming rate, while Nadders used their tail spikes to impale the arms and legs of soldiers, pinning them against whatever they happened to be standing near. away. The dragons worked together easily and naturally- they had been preparing for this attack for a long time.

As skilled as the human soldiers were, they hadn't been prepared for an attack of this magnitude. They evacuated as many citizens as they could, but soon there was no option but to retreat behind the still-secure Wall Rose.


	2. Night Fury

“Can anyone tell me a Deadly Nadder's primary method of attack?” Keith Shadis glared around the classroom. None of the trainees would meet his eye. “What about you, Freckles?” The instructor stared down Marco Bodt, who had been on the verge of sleep. When his nickname was called, Marco started into alertness. 

“Ah... isn't it their flame? Since it's the hottest fire of any dragon?” 

Shadis shook his head. “Incorrect.” He scanned the room once more. “Arlert?”

Armin, who could stay awake in even the most boring of lessons, cleared his throat. “While their fire is capable of melting most metals and stone in seconds, they usually attack with their tail spines. The spikes have incredible range and precision, as well as a mild poison.” Keith nodded, then moved on to the next question.

It had been four and a half years since the dragon attack that had destroyed Wall Maria. The queen, who had been dubbed Titania, had yet to make another appearance. Dragon attacks still plagued humanity, but none had come close to the severity of the queen's. Still, the military was on red alert. To prepare for a similar calamity, the Recon Corps made several upgrades to their weapons, and redoubled their efforts in finding the Dragon's Nest. The Garrison Regime installed more cannons and ordered hundreds of explosives each month.

Armin and his friends, Eren Jaeger and Mikasa Ackerman, had come from Shiganshina. They had been ten the time. The second they turned thirteen, Eren had joined military training, ready to avenge his mother's death and help humanity however he could. Mikasa followed, hoping to protect her brother. The siblings were strong and fast, Mikasa especially so. She was excellent at figuring out blind spots and an unparalleled genius at 3DMG. Eren wasn't nearly as talented, but his sheer determination helped him improve.

Armin's strengths were not so much physical as they were mental. He wasn't as fast or as strong as the other cadets were, but he was smart. He didn't need to fly into the sky to chase dragons- he had invented a prototype device that shot snares. It was meant to down the dragon for him. Unfortunately, after the thing had backfired and nearly killed his instructor, no one was willing to give it a try. Armin would try it himself, but after the incident he wasn't allowed in combat situations. 

After over a year of training, memorizing various attack patterns and how to defend against them, most of the cadets had been upgraded to more exciting jobs, like putting out fires, or in Mikasa's case, direct combat. Armin was stuck guarding gas tanks and helping people refill with Connie and Sasha.

“And that wraps up our review on-” Shadis was cut off when a short woman burst through the door, breathing heavily and panting.

“Dragon attack! Nothing exotic, only a few Zipplebacks and Nightmares, but we could use backup!” She saluted Shadis before running back out the door to recruit the other classes.  
“Get your gear and head to your stations! You know the drill!” Shadis commanded, before running after the woman.

Armin thought of the prototype blaster. He had made a few adjustments, worked out a few bugs... it should work now. He'd be able to get out there, shoot down a dragon, prove that his invention worked, and then maybe he could get off of the Refueling Squad. Then maybe people would take him seriously.

What if something happened and a dragon broke through the defensive ranks? What if Sasha and Connie couldn't take it down? 'What ifs' flooded his mind, but logic dismissed them until only one unshakable question remained: What if it worked? 

Together, soldiers and trainees equipped their gear, climbed the wall to the front lines, where a few buildings were built precariously on top of the chain nets to allow for better utilization of maneuvering gear and storage of food and gas. As soon as the front line soldiers were all equipped with fresh gas tanks, Armin snuck out, blaster tucked safely in the straps of his 3DMG.

He hadn't gotten very far before about twenty soldiers ran by him, balancing easily on the thick chains. Green capes bearing a set of wings flowed out behind them. Armin tilted his head to the side in confusion. The Recon Corps were an elite group of dragon slayers. They didn't bother with minor skirmishes like this one- the Garrison Regime could handle them just fine. His blood ran cold. If the Recon Corps were here, it must mean... 

The leader of the group cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted the words soldiers stayed up at night dreading. 

"NIGHT FURY! GET DOWN!" 

As the last rays of sunshine slipped over the horizon, an unmistakable screaming noise filled the air. A burst of blue plasma shot at a group of soldiers, sending them all tumbling, and a shadowy shape swooped overhead, calling out triumphantly. 

Nadders, Zipplebacks and Gronckles, and Monstrous Nightmares were the most commonly found dragon species. They were still dangerous, but their weaknesses and strengths were standard issue, and knowledge about them made them easier to defeat.

When the leading dragon expert, Hange, had vanished years ago after saving Corporal Levi, she hadn't even begun studying the more exotic dragon species. Flightmares, Typhoomerangs, Stormcutters, Whispering Deaths, Skrill... species like these were abnormal. They deviated from standard draconic behaviors. They had special powers, erratic movements, inconsistent actions. Some had been captured, but not enough to discover trends in their fighting styles. 

Still, something was known about these dragons. They were tough to beat, but it could be done.

No one had ever fought a Night Fury directly and lived to tell the tale. No one had ever captured one. The most anyone had ever seen of this elusive dragon was its silhouette in the firelight. This dragon was fast and vicious and- a plasma blast hit a gas tank storage unit- never misses. 

Armin began to go back to headquarters, but then an idea began to form. A common dragon would get him noticed, sure... but if he brought down a Night Fury? No one would ever treat him like a joke again! 

Armin turned around and shot his hooks into a nearby building. As he began to scale it, his mind tried to talk some sense in to him. He had no actual experience fighting dragons, and theoretical knowledge wasn't good enough in combat. But a year of being taunted and teased and treated like he was useless gave Armin the resolve he needed to keep climbing. 

When he reached the top, Armin pulled out the blaster and flattened himself against the roof. “Come on, come on, give me something to shoot at,” he muttered to himself.

When the telltale scream began again, it wasn't long before another building went up in blue smoke. As the dark shape of the Night Fury swooped over the blue light, Armin took quick, careful aim and fired. The recoil knocked him backwards and nearly sent him tumbling off the wall- but the pained cry that signaled his blaster had worked was worth the bruises. “I... I hit it! Yes! Did anybody see that?” Armin called excitedly.

A low-pitched growl snapped him out of his excitement. Slowly, he turned around to find... an electric blue Monstrous Nightmare. “Anyone but you,” Armin groaned.

The dragon bared its teeth and lunged at him, but Armin hurled himself out of its way. Unfortunately he dodged a bit too far, and fell off the building. The chains broke his fall, probably saving his life. Quickly, Armin got to his feet and took off running, not thinking of using his maneuvering gear in his terror. The Monstrous Nightmare gave chase, lighting itself on fire and catching buildings it passed on fire with stray sparks. The fires spread quickly, and soon more than five buildings were completely alight. 

Armin knew he couldn't outrun the thing, so he attempted to hide behind a building. He didn't manage to turn quickly enough, as the dragon saw where he went. It used its last shot to set the building on fire, and slowly crawled around until it was face to face with Armin. Wide, frightened blue eyes met green ones with pupils as thin as hairs. They stared at each other for a second...then the Nightmare opened its jaws and-

Something small fell out of the sky with enough force to knock the Nightmare backwards. Before the dragon could rise to face the new attacker, they dodged under its wing and sliced the tendon that connected the wing forearm to the shoulder blade. The dragon howled in fury, the limb now limp and immobile. Desperately, it attempted to spit fire, defend itself, anything... but its attacker was too fast. The dragon's desperate bites and slashes were dodged almost too easily. Soon, the other wing was incapacitated as well. The Nightmare let out a frightened cry that was cut short by one final slash of blades- this time aimed at the neck.

The attacker wiped their blades on the dead monster's wings before turning to face Armin. “Oi, brat. What exactly do you think you're doing?”


End file.
